Waiting For You
by Jack of the Pelt
Summary: A few months after his break up with Sora, Yamato finally gets a chance with the girl he really cares for when she returns to Tokyo.


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Author's Note: This a continuation of my previous story _Funny Break_. As per usual, this story uses the original Japanese names for both the characters and the Digimon. By the way, if it looks like I'm bashing Jun, it is entirely unintentional, and I'll make it up to her fans for her treatment here in my next Digimon story, where she will be one of the main characters. Also, kudos to those of you who can guess which band's t-shirt Yamato is wearing later on in the story. Thanks to everyone who has read my previous stories, especially those who reviewed them. Enjoy! 

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Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Faction Paradox - ah, I mean Toei Animation Co., Fox Kids, Saban Entertainment and Bandai, and is used without permission.

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Waiting For You

By Jack of the Pelt

__

I never knew girls existed like you

Now that I do I'd really like to get to know you

The girls too young she didn't need any better

It's all coming back I can feel it

The girls too young she didn't know any better

It's all coming back I can feel it

She Is Beautiful! She Is Beautiful!

She Is Beautiful! She Is Beautiful!

The girl is beautiful!

She Is Beautiful, _Andrew W.K._

Mimi: "Why don't you be a good little boy and share those treats with your sweet Mimi?"

Takeru: "Ah, you don't have to be so nice Mimi! I'm happy to share! You're the best! Isn't she cute?"

Yamato: "Forget it!"

Mimi Tachikawa, Takeru Takashi and Yamato Ishida, _Digimon 01 - The Birth of Greymon_

Sweating, the young man looked around, carefully searching for any signs of what had been following him in the near darkness. Nothing. As quickly as he could the boy pulled the key out of his pocket, but in his haste he dropped it onto the cold concrete floor. Swearing to himself, he snatched it up, fumbling slightly as he proceeded to place it into the lock. He had to be fast or-

"YAMA-CHAN!!!" yelled an annoyingly chirpy voice from behind him.

Too late.

Yamato gently thumped his head against his apartment's door. "Dear god, no," he muttered under his breath. Deciding he didn't have much choice, he turned around and put on an extremely weak smile for the girl now standing before him. "Hi, Jun," he said feebly. He had managed to go a whole month without seeing his number one fanatic - er, fan, but tonight his luck had run out.

Yamato had been dreading this ever since he had split up with Sora. He thought he was safe, since Daisuke had told him that she had started to chase after one of Jyou's brothers. How wrong he was. Almost immediately after his relationship with Sora had ended, Jun had started to stalk him once more. Well, perhaps stalking was too much of a strong word, but she was bad enough, following him around all the time, waiting outside the warehouse where he and his band practiced, just as she had done on this particular occasion. At least she didn't do the really weird things stalkers usually did in the news stories he'd read, like send him her underwear or make obscene phone calls. But how long before he found her in his kitchen, rifling though drawers, trying to find out what he ate?

"Oh, I heard how you broke up with that red head!" she cried, putting on a sympathetic tone, her face full of concern. "You must be absolutely devastated!"

"Can't say that I am," he replied.

"I know what'll cheer you up!" Jun continued, seemingly not having heard him. "We'll go out to a movie! How about tomorrow at eight?" 

"I-"

"Great! See you tomorrow!" she cried, walking away with a huge grin on her face.

Yamato stared at her in disbelief as she left. "How the hell does she do that?!"

***

Meanwhile, Taichi and Sora were lying on the couch watching a movie at the Yagami family's apartment. The girl had her head resting on the boy's chest, while one of his arms was wrapped around her waist, his hand on the other stroking her soft orange hair. This was because Taichi's parents had gone out for the night and Hikari was staying round Miyako's for a sleepover, leaving Taichi in charge. So, rather than going out, the young couple had decided to have a quiet night in front of the TV.

"Taichi?" said Sora, breaking the peaceful silence between them..

"Mmm?" he replied.

"Do you know if Yamato likes anyone else?"

Taichi looked down at his girlfriend. "You know I can't tell you that, Sora," Taichi blushed, suddenly realising what he had slipped out. "Er, not that I know, anyway."

Sora turned her head to look at him and grinned. "So he does LIKE someone?"

"I didn't say that!" Taichi replied defensively.

Sora cocked an eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, Yamato did tell me, but he swore me to secrecy."

"Oh, come on!" pouted Sora. She climbed up so she was straddling his chest, pinning him to the couch. "You know I'm not a gossip! I won't tell another soul."

"I know, but even so…"

"How about if I make you some more of my cookies, would you tell me then?" she said in her sweetest voice.

Taichi's eyes lit up. "The special ones?"

She smiled, knowing that Taichi loved her cooking. "Of course."

"Mimi," he said without hesitation.

"Mimi Tachikawa, the princess of pink?" Sora's exclaimed in surprise. "I thought he couldn't stand her." 

"That's what I thought at first," sighed Taichi. "But when I thought about it, it was pretty obvious. Didn't you notice how upset Yamato seemed to be when Mimi left for New York?"

Sora put a finger to her lips. "Now that you come to mention it, he did seem grumpier than usual."

"Why did you want to know anyway?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see if I could repay him."

"For dumping you?"

"No," Sora replied. "For making me realise who I really loved."

"I thought you would still be furious, after all, you only broke up with him a month ago."

"No, not really," she replied truthfully. "I understand now that he was just trying to get us two together. Besides, I was only angry at him because he broke up with me so suddenly."

Taichi frowned. "You're not planning on getting them together are you? I hate to be a pessimist, but long distance relationships don't usually work out."

"Well, fate has a strange way of working out, I mean look at us…" she said as she leant down to kiss him.

***

"Why doesn't she just get the fact that I just don't like her!" muttered Yamato out loud as he closed the apartment's door.

"Jun again?" asked Mr Ishida, who was sitting at the table reading the paper as his son walked in. The boy's father was at home because it was one of those rare occasions when the TV station he worked at didn't require his presence.

"Yeah," he replied. "She just doesn't know when to give up."

"Why don't you just tell her you're not interested, then?"

"I've tried to, dad!" said Yamato as he rested his guitar against the wall. "But she just doesn't listen! She just says, and to quote her: 'Oh, don't be silly, Yama-chan! Of course you love me!'"

Mr Ishida chuckled. "She's very persistent, I'll give her that," he said as he folded up the paper and put it down in front of him. "Perhaps you shouldn't have broke up with that girl-" he stopped, trying to remember what she was called. "You know, that red head, what was her name again? One of the girls who you were with in the Digital World."

"That was Sora," Yamato told him, grimacing slightly. "And the only reason I was going out with her was to get Jun off my back, and it worked. But then I found out I was doing more harm than good."

"Why was that, then?"

"I found out my best friend Taichi was in love with her, and she seemed to still have strong feelings for him too. It didn't seem fair on any of us, so I broke up with her," he explained, just as was opening the door to his room.

A sly look appeared on his father's face. "So," he said, "is that the only reason you ended that relationship, or maybe there's another girl you're interested in, eh?"

Yamato froze and his face went crimson. "N-no!" he finally spluttered, hurriedly walking into his bedroom to avoid further questioning from his father. "And even if there was, it's not like I'm going to have any chance with her when she lives on the other side of the world," he muttered to himself as he closed the door behind him. 

***

"What do you mean we're moving again?!" demanded a rather irate brown haired girl to her parents. A little while ago, Mimi's mother had called her down from her room because her father had something important to tell her. She knew it was going to be something important, but she hadn't expected this development in the slightest.

"Well, princess," her father said, looking slightly uncomfortable, "there was a job opening back in Tokyo, and with everything that's being going on in New York lately I thought it would be best to move back there."

"But, daddy, that's not fair!" Mimi pouted. "I've only just got used to living here!" That wasn't entirely true, however, as Mimi knew she had adapted fairly quickly to life in New York, but it was the first thing that came to her that she could think of as an excuse.

"Mimi!" her mother said sternly, who was sitting next to Mr Tachikawa on the sofa. "Me and your father talked about this for a very long time last night and we've decided to move back."

Mimi glared at her parents, her gaze going from her mother to her father and back again, but she couldn't think of anything use as a retort. "Ooh!" The young girl finally said and stormed off back upstairs to her room. There was a loud thump as her bedroom door slammed shut.

Mr Tachikawa frowned, rubbing his temple strenuously. "Hmmm, that went well," he muttered to himself.

His wife put a hand on her husband's arm. "Oh, don't worry, dear," she said. "Mimi will be fine."

"I hope so," he replied. "Do you remember the last time we moved? She was sulking for a week!"

"She'll get used to the idea in time," Mrs Tachikawa said in a reassuring tone. "Mimi's a strong girl."

***

Back in Japan, Yamato laid back on his bed staring at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. He didn't want to admit it, but his dad was right. There was another girl he was interested in, and that was Mimi Tachikawa, the Chosen Child of Purity.

When they had first met, the young boy that Yamato Ishida had been couldn't stand her. Mimi had everything he didn't; loving parents that were still together, a spoilt upbringing, a carefree life, and plenty of friends. And this made Yamato resentful and jealous of her, making him believed that she was so self centred that she practically had her own centre of gravity. 

But strangely, these negative feelings soon left and he had developed a crush on the amber haired girl. He had noticed that Takeru liked her and she played with him often, and Yamato was thankful that someone was taking his younger brother's mind off of the potential danger of their situation, and the few times they were alone together he had found she was a very charming and pleasant girl. But he couldn't tell her that he liked her, as he was afraid of making a fool of himself. He did, however, stick up for her when Taichi was picking on her when she was making graves for all the Digimon that had given their lives for the Chosen's cause, almost giving his secret away. When they returned home he had wanted to tell her how he felt, but he could never work up enough courage to tell her, that being Taichi's department, and he had realised he had lost his final chance to say anything when Mimi moved New York a year after their first adventure.

During the events when Ken was the Digimon Kaiser, Takeru had told him about that American boy, Michael, who had accompanied Mimi in the Digital World, and Yamato had felt incredible and inexplicably jealous. He didn't know why, as it wasn't as if Mimi could ever be his girlfriend anyway.

When Sora had asked if he wanted to go out with her, he had been very surprised, as he had always thought she liked Taichi, and that he liked her. He had asked her about this but she had said that the brown haired boy didn't mind and she only thought of him as a friend. Perhaps he just wanted Mimi to be just as jealous as he had been, so he became Sora's boyfriend.

And so he had been happy for a time, his feelings for Mimi faded but not entirely forgotten. He thought he would get over her when he had started to go out with the Chosen Child of Love, but after finding out that he was hurting Taichi, this made him realise that he was only lying to himself about his own feelings. He had broken up with Sora and managed to get his two friends together. Now they were both happy together and Sora had forgiven Yamato for breaking up with her, but his situation had been left unresolved, as he was still pining for keeper of the Crest of Purity.

Gradually, his eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep with his dreams full of a certain brown haired girl.

***

Mimi sobbed into one of the pillows on her bed. This was exactly the same thing she had done when she and her parents had moved to New York three years ago.

Sitting up and wiping away some of her tears, she picked up the picture frame that sat on her bedside cabinet. It was the photo that had been taken in Primary Village on the day they left the Digital World. She smiled, remembering all her friends, both human and Digimon. She also remembered the fact that she had a crush on each of the boys in their little group at one point or another.

At first she had liked Koushiro, but all he had been interested in was his laptop, and her own interest soon waned. She had a short crush on Taichi, but Mimi knew that Sora would get jealous if she started hanging around the other girl's best friend. Takeru was cute and fun to play with, but he was far too young for her. She had known Jyou had liked her that way, but sadly for him, she could only view the poor guy as a brother. She could still remember the day when he had told her his feelings, but that was another story she didn't really want to think about at the moment.

And then there was Yamato. The mysterious and handsome lone wolf of the Chosen Children.

She really didn't know precisely when she had developed an attraction to the blonde haired boy. But he had absolutely fascinated her, as he was the only member of the group she didn't really know much about, but she managed to find out a lot about him from his little brother Takeru and the brief talks she had with the boy himself. Mimi had discovered that his parents were divorced, with Yamato living apart from his sibling. She had felt sorry for him and wanted to help ease the pain the blonde boy must have gone though, as she herself wouldn't know how she would ever cope if her own parents split up, but she didn't really know what to say or do, or even if her sympathy would be appreciated, so she kept quiet about it.

She always wondered if he actually liked her. He had stuck up for her when Taichi was picking on her, and that had made her think that he actual cared for her. When he had left the group, she had been worried sick, and was afraid that he might hurt himself, or worse, run into one of the Dark Masters, so she had left the group with the company of Jyou to follow him, although she didn't catch up with him until the Chosen's final battle with Piemon.

She had first realised she had a crush on him soon after their first adventure in the Digital World. It just sort of struck her when she thought how cute he looked when they where getting off the tram they had travelled back home in after the Digital World had been sealed off. After this event she always wondered if one day she would ever get the chance to tell Yamato how she really felt. But all those dreams ended when her dad had accepted a job in America. Mimi had one of her biggest tantrums that day. Her parents, however, would be not be swayed and, less than a month later, she was in New York with them.

When she started to go to school there, Mimi had made friends quickly, due to her good looks and fashion sense. She had, much to her surprise, met other Chosen Children with their own Digimon, including Michael. She had started to hang around him quite a lot because he bore a slight resemblance to Yamato, but it just wasn't the same, as her American friend didn't have a even have a fraction of the alluring mystery that the Chosen of Friendship had.

And then she had found out that Yamato and Sora were dating. Mimi was both shocked and upset, as she always thought that the red haired girl would eventually get together with Taichi. When she had first heard the news from Sora herself, Mimi had managed to restrain herself and was quite happy for her friend, but that night she had locked herself in her room and cried her eyes out. She had thought that she would never have the chance to tell her crush her most well kept secret.

Four months later, Mimi had received an e-mail from Miyako telling her that Yamato and Sora had broke up. That had made her think that maybe fate was giving her a second chance, and the more she thought about it, the more she started to think that she had been given one. Her imminent return to Japan was only reinforcing that possibility.

Resentment of her parents quickly turning to excitement of seeing all her friends again, Yamato especially, she grabbed the receiver of her telephone that lay on her bedside cabinet and hurriedly dialled Sora's number to tell her best friend the news. It would probably cost a fortune, but she didn't really care about that.

Perhaps returning to Tokyo wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

***

About a month later, Mimi was staring out of the plane's window as they came in to land at the airport.

"Well, I'm home," she muttered to no one in particularly as the plane touched down on the runway.

***

Mimi found that nearly all of the other Chosen Children, minus Jyou and Ken, were waiting for her as she walked into the arrivals area with her parents. Her heart jumped slightly when she caught sight of Yamato.

She turned to her mother and father. "Mom, dad, my friends are over there, I'm just going to talk to them."

Her mother smiled. "Okay, dear, we'll just be outside getting a taxi, so don't be too long."

"Thanks, see you in a minute," she said as walked towards her friends.

"Mimi!" cried Miyako as she approached. "It's so good to see you!"

"Yeah!" said Takeru. "How long has it been since we last saw you?"

"Did you bring any presents?" asked Daisuke, as subtle as ever.

"Daisuke!" said Hikari, hitting his arm.

"Sorry," he apologised. "I was just curious."

Mimi laughed. "Well as a matter of fact, I have," she said. "But you'll have to wait until I've unpacked."

"Aw," muttered Daisuke.

Hikari rolled her eyes. "You're so tactless, Daisuke!" she said angrily.

"Ah, young love…" said Sora.

"Heh, it's like they're married already," laughed Miyako.

Daisuke blushed and looked away, while Hikari stood there wide-eyed, Takeru giving the girl a worried glance. Everybody else burst out laughing.

"When do you start school, Mimi?" asked Koushiro, changing the subject, much to the relief of the three kids.

"Oh, a week on Monday," she replied. "By the way, where are Jyou and Ken?"

"Jyou has one of those monster tests on Monday," answered Taichi. "He's been studying like he's possessed, so we haven't seen him all week."

"Same old Jyou, he hasn't changed a bit!" Mimi laughed once again. "Oh, well, I'll give him a call on Tuesday. It'll be a nice surprise for him. What about Ken?"

Iori was the one who told her where the ex-Digimon Kaiser was. "Ken is visiting his brother's grave with his parents, so he couldn't come to see you. He says that he's sorry he can't come to welcome you home with the rest of us, but going to his brother grave is really important to him."

"Yeah, I can understand that…" said Mimi softly.

***

Yamato noticed that there was a flicker of emotion that went across Mimi's face when Iori mentioned Ken's brother. Was it regret? This made him wonder what was wrong.

"What about you, Yamato?" asked Taichi, an impish grin on his face.

"What?" asked the boy, snapping out of his fugue when he realised his friend was talking to him.

"You haven't said much so far," continued Sora. "You're glad to see Mimi, right?"

"Yeah, of course I am!"

"I bet you are," murmured Taichi just loud enough for him to hear.

The blonde glared at him. _Shit_, he thought, _he wouldn't tell her, would he?_

Yamato breathed a sigh of relief when Mimi spoke before Taichi could say anything else. Smiling, she said, "It's nice to see you again as well, Yamato." Was there a slight blush on her cheeks as she said that? "Hmm, I better get going or my parents are going to wonder were I am," she said, picking up her hand luggage and heading for the exit, the others following her.

"Here, let me and Yamato take those for you," said Koushiro chivalrously. "Won't we, Yamato?"

"Of course we will!" he acknowledged, perhaps too enthusiastically, moving to take the bags from Mimi's hands.

There was a twitch of jealously on Miyako's face. "I wish someone would do something like that for me," she muttered under her breath.

"Thanks!" said Mimi cheerfully to the two boys as she handed them the bags she had been carrying, smirking slightly at her friend's comment.

"My pleasure, Mimi," replied Yamato as the girl smiled at him. Was it his imagination or did Mimi blush slightly when his hand brushed hers when he took one of the bags from her?

***

As they all headed for the airport's exit, Mimi slowed down slightly so she was walking with Sora. "Um, Sora, could I speak to you for second in private?"

"Yeah, sure," she turned to Taichi. "Give us a second would you, Taichi?"

Her boyfriend nodded and Sora took Mimi aside so they were walking just out of earshot of the group. "What is it, Mimi?" the red haired girl asked her friend.

"Is Yamato still, y'know…"

"What?"

"Single?" Mimi said.

"Certainly is. Why did you want to know that?"

Mimi blushed. "Uh, I was just curious," she blustered.

"Yeah, I reckon!" Sora said playfully as they left the building.

***

"Where have you two been?" Yamato asked Taichi and Sora as they sat down at their desks. He had been staying round his mother's apartment for the weekend, so he couldn't walk to school with the couple that morning. "Not been making out in the supplies cupboard again, have you?" he said, grinning at his friend's discomfort, the two of them blushing furiously.

"Good morning class," said Mr Ueda, their first teacher for the day. "Before we start today I'd like to introduce you to a new student at this school. Miss Tachikawa?"

Yamato had been placing schoolbooks on his desk, but he looked up when he heard Mimi's last name mentioned.

It was Mimi alright, now wearing the standard green Odaiba High School fuku. "Hi, my name is Mimi Tachikawa," she said, bowing slightly. "I think most of you know me already. I went to Odaiba Elementary, but I moved to New York in America three years ago."

_Hmm_, thought Yamato, _she really looks good in that uniform! Mind you, she looks good in anything._ He then mentally slapped himself for being such a pervert.

"Miss Tachikawa, could you please sit at the desk next to Sora Takenouchi?" asked Mr Ueda, as he turned towards the blackboard on the wall in front of the class. "That's the girl with the red hair."

Mimi made her why across the class to the desk next to her best friend and sat behind it. "I'll show you around school after class like I promised you this morning, Mimi," Sora said to her friend.

"Thank you, Sora," replied Mimi..

Yamato leaned towards Taichi. "Hey, Taichi," the boy whispered to his best friend, "did you two know that Mimi was coming here?"

"Yep," said Taichi, grinning, "me and Sora wanted to keep it a surprise for you!"

"Did she walk to school with you two?"

Taichi shook his head. "Nah, her home is on the other side of Odaiba." He grinned mischievously. "So you can't escort her home tonight, if that was what you were thinking!"

"Mr Yagami," asked Mr Ueda, who was now facing his students. "Is there something you wanted to share with the rest of the class?"

"Er, no sir," said Taichi sheepishly.

Yamato smiled slightly at his friend's misfortune, but he was currently more concerned with when he was going to ask Mimi out.

***

Some time later, it was one of the brief periods of break time between classes, and Sora and Mimi were talking to each other in one of the corridors of the school. However, they did not realise they were being watched nearby by two boys; Yamato, who was trying to work up enough courage to ask Mimi out on a date, and Taichi, who was accompanying his best friend to give him moral support.

"Go on!" Taichi said, trying to encourage him. "There she is! Ask her."

"I-I don't know, what if-"

Taichi cut him off. "Yamato, that what I was thinking last Christmas at your concert, don't be an idiot like me and miss your chance." He gave his best friend a little shove in the direction of Mimi.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Yamato murmured to himself as he walked towards her. He thought he heard Mimi say the words 'Yamato' and 'cute' in the same sentence, or was his mind just playing tricks on him? Well, he would find out very soon. "Uh, Mimi?" he asked when he was behind the girl.

"Eek!" cried Mimi, startled, spinning around to see who had just made her jump. "Oh, Yamato, it's you," she said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Sora covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh at her friends jumpiness.

"Er, sorry," Yamato said, blushing slightly. "Ah, can I ask you something?" He gave Sora a quick glance. "Um, in private?"

"Yeah, go ahead!" Mimi replied cheerfully, and then she turned to her best friend. "Could you leave us for a second, please Sora?

"Okay, Mimi. See you in a minute!" she said cheerfully, heading off down the corridor.

"Bye Sora!" Mimi turned back to the blonde. "What was it you wanted to ask me, Yamato?"

Yamato swallowed nervously. "Do you, ah, I mean would like to…" He struggled to get the words out.

"Yeah?"

The blonde boy muttered something inaudible.

"I'm sorry," she said, frowning. "I didn't quite hear you."

"WouldyouliketogotothemovieswithmeonSaturday?" Yamato blurted out after he had taken a deep breath.

"Of course, I'd love to!"

Yamato started to turn around, his shoulders slumped. "It's okay, I understand why you wouldn't want to be with a - hey, wait a minute!" he said, the girl's reply suddenly sinking in. "Did you say yes?"

"Yeah."

Yamato almost jumped into the air. "That's great!" he cried, overjoyed, resisting the urge to grab and kiss her. "What do you want to go and see?"

"Well, I'll have to look to see what's on first," she said. "I'll give you a call tonight."

"You still have my number?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course! You didn't think I'd just throw it away, did you?"

Yamato rubbed the back of his head. "Well, no…"

"Don't be silly, you're a good friend! I wouldn't just throw it away just like that."

"Thanks," he said, a smile starting to form on his lips. "See you back in class then, Mimi."

"Bye, Yamato," she replied before turning and going the way Sora had gone.

Yamato walked back to Taichi, a huge grin now plastered across his face. "How'd it go?" the brown haired boy asked when his friend reached him.

"Let's just say I'm going to be busy Saturday night," he replied, the smiled still on his face.

***

Later that night, Yamato and Gabumon were watching the TV, each of them sitting on each end of the table. The boy was flicking though the channels rapidly, eagerly awaiting the call from his pink haired goddess, while the Digimon was eating a large packet of crisps. Gabumon was on one of monthly visits to the human world, along with the other Chosen's Digimon, who were currently staying with their partners and would leave on Friday. Yamato's father, unsurprisingly, was working late once again.

"Yamato, you should calm down, don't work yourself up so much," advised Gabumon to his human friend.

Yamato gave him a sly look. "I bet if it was Palmon who was going to call you would be acting the same way as me."

Gabumon simply blushed and went back to his crisps.

Just then the phone rang, and Yamato was there in an instant, picking up the receiver. "Hello, Ishida residence," he said into it, trying to hide his excitement.

"Hi, Yamato!" said a familiar voice on the other side.

"Mimi!" he said joyfully. "Have you decided on what you wanted to see?"

"Yeah, how about Metal Gear Solid?"

"You want to see that? That's an action movie, isn't it? I didn't think you liked that sort of thing."

"Well, apparently it has some romance in it, so there'll be something for the both of us."

"Okay then, what time should I pick you up?"

"Hmmm, The movie starts at eight, so let's say around seven?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye! See you then!" Yamato replaced the receiver back and was about to return to his chair when phone started ringing once again. A horrible thought struck him as he picked the receiver for a second time, perhaps it was Mimi, maybe she'd had second thoughts about going out with him.

"Hello, Ishida residence."

"Yama-kun!" said an all too familiar voice.

_Oh no_, he thought, _why me?_ "Uh, hi Jun, what is it?" he asked, without much enthusiasm.

"Ah, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the movies with me on Saturday?"

"Um, no I can't, because I'm…ah," he said, trying to think of a good excuse to give her fast. After some quick thinking he said, "Because I'm going to visit my mom tomorrow night, so I won't be able to, sorry,"

"Oh," she replied, sounding disappointed "Well…"

"Thanks for asking though, bye!" he said, and quickly replaced the receiver before she could say anything else.

"That wasn't very nice," said Gabumon when Yamato had returned to the table.

Yamato shrugged. "Sorry, but it was the only thing I could think of, you know what a nuisance she is. I'm trying to let her down gently though."

"Just be careful, Yamato," the Digimon warned.

Yamato looked at Gabumon questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"You should make sure you don't hurt that girl's feelings," he replied. "Even if you mean well, lying could only do more harm than good."

***

Saturday evening had come around quickly, and Mimi was just putting the finishing touches to her hair when her mother called from downstairs. "Mimi, dear! Your date is here!"

"I'm coming, mom!" Mimi grabbed her purse, but decided that she wouldn't need a coat, as it was quite a warm summer evening. She hurried down the stairs and over to the front door, pulling it open to reveal Yamato standing there.

When he looked at her he seemed momentarily stunned. "Whoa, Mimi!" he said eventually. "You really look good! Ahem, I mean…" he trailed off, staring at her admiringly.

Mimi had decided on wearing a pink blouse tied at the waist with ruffled elbow length sleeves and also a knee length blue denim skirt. The shirt revealed part of her stomach, but she decided it wasn't too risqué. She had let her hair remain it's natural colour, leaving it to cascade down her to her shoulders, while a pair of white sandals completed the look.

Mimi smiled, admiring Yamato back. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself."

Yamato was wearing a dark green combat trousers, a black t-shirt that had on it what looked a plus symbol, an R on it's left side, with what looked like an eruption in the background. He also wore a black leather jacket and trainers the same colour. On anyone else these clothes would have looked scruffy, but somehow the blonde boy made it look more than presentable.

Yamato grinned, offering her his arm. "Shall we get going?

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" Mimi called, taking the boy's arm in hers, and as she closed the door she heard her parents farewells and her father's reminder not to be out too late.

***

"That was a great movie! There wasn't much romance though, but it was still great!" Mimi enthused as the young couple left the cinema a few hours later. "Wasn't that based on a computer game or something?"

"Yeah, movies based on games are usually bad, but that was really good," Yamato said. He chuckled slightly.

"What is it?" asked Mimi, curious.

"Oh, it's just that I couldn't get past the Metal Gear near the end of that game, but then Takeru showed me how to do it."

A pained expression went across Mimi's face for the briefest of moments.

Yamato noticed this. "Mimi, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yamato," she said. "I haven't told anyone this, but I had a little brother called Hiro."

"'Had'?"

"He died when I was four, I didn't really understand what was going on, but I was still upset when he died." She suddenly burst into tears, putting her head in her hands. "He was only five months old!" she sobbed.

They had now reached a nearby park and he quickly sat her down on a nearby bench. He put an arm around her shoulders, feeling guilty that he might of set this off. "I'm really sorry, Mimi, I didn't reminded you of his death, did I?

"No. No, you didn't," she replied, wiping away her tears. "It's okay, it's just that I've been thinking about that event lately, because it happened ten years ago this Tuesday." She sniffed, rubbing one of her eyes with the back of her hand. "I've never told anyone about that, not even Jyou, and he's like an older brother to me. It felt good to finally tell someone and get it off my chest. For some reason I feel more comfortable around you than anyone else."

Yamato blushed.

They were both quiet for a while, enjoying each others company and watching the city's lights. Yamato's arm was still around Mimi, while the brown haired girl was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Um, Yamato?" said Mimi eventually.

"Yeah, Mimi?"

"I don't think I ever thanked you for sticking up for me in the Digital World."

"Oh, I just did that because Taichi was being a jerk," he said, looking away, his cheeks even redder.

"Thanks anyway, though," she said, smiling. "I really appreciated it."

"I never thanked you for being a friend to Takeru all those years ago."

"That's okay, I really enjoyed playing with him."

Yamato looked thoughtful for a moment. "Mimi, do you like me?" he asked suddenly.

Mimi looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He turned towards her, their eyes meeting. "I mean do you like me…" he paused, looking for the right words to say, "that way?"

Mimi smiled again. "Does this answer your question?" With that, she leant forward and, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissed him on the lips. Yamato was surprised at first, but soon recovered and started to kiss back, putting his own arms around her.

It was the first and most definitely was not the last kiss they would share.

***

Unknown to the two teenagers, they were being watched nearby.

"Yes! They're kissing!" Taichi almost shouted in triumph. He and Sora had gone out for a pizza and were now taking a quiet walk when they had caught sight of their friends. Taichi had wanted to see how they were doing, but his girlfriend had held him back. They were both now keeping well out of sight.

"Hey, quiet down, Taichi or they'll hear you," Sora whispered admonishingly to her boyfriend. She returned her gaze back to their two friends. "And to think, that you were the one who got them together."

The brown haired boy grinned. "You said yourself that fate has strange way of working out." He took her hand in his. "Come on, Sora, I'll walk you home. I don't think they want an audience."

"You a real romantic, Taichi," Sora said as they walked away, the girl giving him a peck on the cheek.

Taichi blushed. "Well, I did owe him one for getting us together."

And off they went, leaving their two friends alone with their new found love.


End file.
